The new company was a hit with venture capitalists, who were investing in companies that touched on the open-source arena and wanted to protect themselves (and their customers) from legal pitfalls.

FORBES: Code Inspector

The risk of disregarding these rules is customers getting frustrated with your service or disengaging themselves from your brand.

FORBES: The Risk Of Using SMS For Customer Service

The high-tech variety enables customers to avail themselves of the same services and more from the comfort of their office desk or bedside table.

CNN: The Asiaweek Financial 500

Overemphasizing sales targets at the expense of making a difference for customers makes it extremely difficult for salespeople to differentiate themselves from the competition.

FORBES: Purpose-Driven Selling: It Beats Quota-Driven Every Time

To make social business a reality this year, these consulting firms will have to better organize themselves into a full menu of social business services from helping their customers establish a vision for social business to building adoption and providing enablement, as well as developing metrics and measuring impact.

FORBES: Shining The Limelight On Social Business Services

In next 12-24 months, forward-thinking organizations can differentiate themselves from competition based on how they deliver a mobile experience to their customers and their employees.

FORBES: A New Era Of Work

In addition, customers increasingly prefer to buy integrated systems from one vendor, rather than doing the plumbing themselves.

ECONOMIST: Computing

Now, with customers scanning books themselves, the library is processing more books than ever while shaving 15 percent from staff hours by using fewer part-time workers.

NPR: Practically Human: Can Smart Machines Do Your Job?